Two Denver high school students accused of fatally shooting a classmate and wounding eight others last week appeared in court on Wednesday to be formally charged with murder.

Colorado prosecutors have now charged both Devon Erickson, 18, and Alec McKinney, 16, with murder, attempted murder, and a series of other counts relating to the shooting at the STEM School Highlands Ranch on May 7.

McKinney, who was listed on the court docket by the name Maya Elizabeth McKinney but identifies as male, will also be tried as an adult, the court confirmed.

Erickson and McKinney were arrested at the high school after investigators say they opened fire on their fellow students in two different classrooms using handguns that had been concealed in a guitar case.

Devon Erickson (pictured), 18, and Alec McKinney, 16, have been charged with murder, attempted murder, and a other counts relating to the shooting at STEM

Unlike his court appearance last week, Erickson appeared more involved and engaged during Wednesday morning’s proceedings

The two teens made their initial court appearances last week in separate hearings before Douglas County District Judge Theresa Slade, who ordered them both held without bond.

Denver's ABC affiliate television station has reported that the two pistols used in the attack were stolen from the home of Erickson, whose parents had purchased the guns legally.

Unlike his court appearance last week, Erickson appeared more involved and engaged during Wednesday morning’s proceedings.

Instead of looking down at his feet with his face concealed by his pink and black dyed hair as he had before, Erickson’s face was visible while he looked forward to address the judge directly.

Wearing a prison uniform, Erickson was shackled by his wrists and ankles throughout the hearing, as Judge Theresa Slade denied a motion to have them removed.

Alongside his charges of murder and several counts of attempted murder, Erickson is also facing charges of theft and arson in relation to the attack.

Court documents in the case remain sealed. Slade denied the prosecution's request to make some of the documents public but said she will address the issue at the next hearing on June 7.

Instead of looking down to his feet with his face concealed by his pink and black dyed hair as he had before, Erickson’s face was visible while he looked forward to address the judge directly

Wearing a prison uniform, Erickson was shackled by his wrists and ankles throughout the hearing, as Judge Theresa Slade denied a motion to have them removed

Alec McKinney, 16, who was listed on the court docket by the name Maya Elizabeth McKinney but identifies as male, will also be tried as an adult, the court confirmed

Joshua Jones, an 18-year-old senior at STEM School Highlands Ranch, said during a news conference Tuesday he was watching The Princess Bride in his British literature class when a classmate pulled a gun and told everyone to stay still.

Jones said he was acting on instinct when he, Kendrick Castillo and Brendan Bialy subdued one of two students who attacked the south Denver school.

We rushed him. I pulled him to the ground, Kendrick got the gun out of him, I shoved him to the wall,' Jones explained.

He was shot twice in one leg but said he is recovering quickly.

'There wasn't a whole lot that was going through my mind at the time. Adrenaline and tunnel vision are a crazy thing,' said Jones, who described himself as just a normal teenage kid. 'They make it so that you don't really focus on anything but what's right in front of your face at that moment.'

He did, however, have the presence of mind to call his mother Lorie Jones while pinning suspect Devon Erickson.

'She always has been a problem solver for me,' he said, adding that she told him not to worry. 'It was a pretty quick conversation.

'It was really just something like, "Hey, Mom. There's been a school shooting. I've been involved. The authorities are on the way. They're going to get an ambulance and I'm going to go to the hospital. That's all I got right now for you".'

Reports say the two pistols used in the attack were stolen from the home of Erickson, whose parents had purchased the guns legally

Joshua Jones, front, who was wounded while trying to stop a gunman involved in the attack on the STEM School Highlands Ranch last week, speaks during a news conference as his father, David, listens Tuesday, in Littleton, Colorado

Lorie Jones, back, smiles as her son, Joshua, says he called her while pinning school shooter to the ground

Lorie Jones says she asked her son if he was bleeding and he replied 'just a little', she reveals in a video from Fox Denver.

Jones said he'd always been taught to get away in a situation like last week's but he did what he thought was best for him.

Slain student Kendrick Castillo is to be honored at a memorial service on Wednesday at a Highlands Ranch church. The 18-year-old robotics enthusiast and aspiring engineer was shot dead as he charged at the shooters in an effort to disarm them.

Just three days shy of graduation, Castillo was pronounced dead at the scene.

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Authorities have said these acts of bravery helped minimize the bloodshed from the attack, which also wounded eight students, all of whom have since been released from the hospital.

'We're going to hear about very heroic things that have taken place at the school,' Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said shortly after the shooting.

Jones declined to talk about the shooters Tuesday, instead focusing on Castillo and his own physical and emotional recovery.

He said he is 'still in a bit of a funk' emotionally ... 'but physically, I'm recovering incredibly well. I'm healing fast. I mean, I'm a young kid.'

The shooting happened nearly three weeks after the neighboring town of Littleton marked the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School attack that killed 13 people.

The two schools are separated by about 7 miles (11 kilometers).

Kendrick Castillo was killed as he tried to save the lives of others. He will be honored in a memorial service later today

Erickson and McKinney are accused of walking into their school with handguns and opening fire in two classrooms last week

Five months ago, a school district official urged the STEM school´s director to investigate allegations of student bullying and violence by a parent who feared they could lead to the next 'Columbine'. The director said an investigation found no evidence to support the allegations.

The STEM school had no sworn police officer at the 1,850-student campus, after a dispute with the sheriff´s office over the previous school resource officer's role ended that relationship last year, the school said last week.

Instead a private security company was hired to patrol the kindergarten-high school campus. An armed security guard responded to last week´s shooting.

ABC News, citing an unnamed law enforcement official, reported last week that the security guard may have mistakenly fired on sheriff´s deputies called to the scene and wounded a student in the chaos.

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Colorado school shooter is seen in court as his believed accomplice, 16, will be charged as an adult